The saying ‘ Nothing is more practical than a good theory’ warrants greater attention from sport scientists if we are to accept the opinions of Greg Chappell, former Australian international cricketer captain. Interviewed by the ‘Trinidad & Tobago Express’, and reported on cricinfo.com (June 22nd, 2004), Chappell expressed little enthusiasm for the contribution of sports science to the development of the next generation of Australian cricketers. His comments highlight to us the need for a theoretical model of the performer and learner to underpin training, practice and sports science support applications. First, he suggested that a ‘mafia’ of academics and sports scientists with little playing experience, had over-complicated training, creating regimented coaching structures, leading to the development of cricketers with little understanding of the game. Second, he argued that giving young players too much technical information may only confuse them. On teaching players he said, "To try to explain to them the biomechanics of it all would just confuse them. The more structure you get at an early age, the more it messes you up." Third, he was critical of the role of bowling machines during practice, emphasising the importance of the batter adapting movements to key task information sources, especially the actions of bowlers who often deliver the ball idiosyncratically. Chappell concluded, "We should not replace them [the old fashioned methods of learning to play cricket] with unproven approaches like biomechanics that are not yet proven to be workable....". Chappell’s analysis highlighted to us the need to adopt a multidisciplinary approach in sports science that is guided by theoretical principles and a theoretical model of the human performer.